


Chasing After You

by Sanalith



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-21
Updated: 2012-03-21
Packaged: 2017-11-02 08:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/366931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanalith/pseuds/Sanalith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akira discovers that a rivalry is all-consuming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chasing After You

You probably think I’m not good enough for you. You might be right.  
  
But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stop trying.  
  
I saw a spark of greatness in you, a potential that very few people our age have. I’ve never been vain about my skills, but I know talent like ours is unique. You have a form, a style, a grace that the world just doesn’t see in sixth graders.  
  
I should know.  
  
People have told me for years that I’m special. I try not to listen to them, because I know I’ve got a long way to go, but you can believe me when I say that you dealt the kiss of death to whatever ego I did have. If I’m truly being honest, I never thought someone my own age would be able to touch me. This is *my* game, the game I was born and bred to play.   
  
And you...  
  
I don’t understand how it’s possible, how someone like you could beat me so completely, not just once, but twice. Your hands told the tale your words didn’t – you’re not a real Go player. You haven’t spent hours and hours before a board, testing yourself against the top players of Japan. You have all the right moves but none of the fire, the passion. And to top it all of, you obviously have no respect for the game. I wanted to punch you when you made that comment about taking a title or two for the money. I’ve never had a violent urge before in my entire life! How could you possibly play so well and yet know so little about what it means to *be* a player?  
  
But none of that matters now. You have something I don’t, something I need. Your moves had a beauty, a grace, a transcendental quality that I have never seen before, not even in my father. You placed the stones so jerkily, and yet, you drew a world on that board that I have never before encountered.  
  
And by God, I swear I will learn whatever that is, and I will grow stronger.  
  
I trailed you to your school, I yelled and I begged, and you simply slammed a window in my face. You may not think I’m worthy to play you now, but I promise you, the next time we meet, I will be. I will practice and study and learn, and I will walk through all the nine hells if I have to, but I will fight my way to your level, and I will *make* you face me. I’ll make sure you can never ignore me again.  
  
Don’t bother waiting for me, Shindou. I’ll catch up before you even have the chance to notice I’m not already right behind you.  
  
I swear it.


End file.
